A question to the jet jocks. At the lower speeds for the water drop, would the heat turbulence have a greater effect in the flight characteristics of the DC-10. In pictures I have seen there is usually a significant heat updraught. My question is based on the preceding Citation, and is that not used for identifying problem areas as being lighter would be affected more.

Bell 407 wrote:PS, didn't know about the spotter plane at all. Do they follow his path electronically?

No clue exactly what they do, but here from ‎Roger Syratt‎ on Facebook

Dynamic Aviation's Cessna 525 CitationJet N10R at Santa Maria Air Tanker Base, California, on 07-10-2014. It is one of two of the type contracted by the US Forest Service to act as lead planes for the new generation of jet air tankers.